Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of the Northeast Blackout of 2003. As Hurricane Charley closes in on Florida, it’s apparent lessons of the blackout haven’t been learned. There wouldn’t be this mad scramble for power crews to repair storm damage if this country had gone with Thomas Edison’s model for electric power use. That is, every house has its own generator. Such could be reality here with the increased acceptance of fuel cells.
During the Northeast blackout, the NYC police station in Central Park remained fully-lit, thanks to a fuel cell. Widespread fuel cells would prevent storm blackouts. Natural gas lines are prevalent and storm-proof, for all practical purposes. Fuel cells are whisper quiet and enviromentally friendly, even generating water and heat as a byproduct.
There are fuel cells already available with capacity to power whole houses, but they’re still prohibitively expensive. How many times will our power grid get ripped up before we try something new?